I strongly suggest that people take a look at what she’s talking about, because this stuff is obviously happening and happening quickly. Any talk that ends with “What counts as human?” is worth a look. The moral and ethical conundrums are mind-bending.

The body hacking ideas are particularly interesting to me because I just finished reading Rainbow’s End…one of my summer sci-fi reading list. A wonderful book, with lots of very interesting ideas on what society will be like in a world of wearable computers and utterly ubiquitous wireless networking. Another great pick by Andreessen.

Then today, I also stumbled across a news article on the invention of paper nanotube batteries that are “…a prime candidate for being implantable inside the body…” because “…the battery may also be activated by the electrolytes found in human secretions and fluids“.

So my conclusion: Rainbow’s End has a great vision of the future, but likely didn’t go far enough. The future is likely to be far stranger…and much sooner…than people expect.